The good, the bad, and the ugly: Assessing the impact of the OAS and the UN on human trafficking in Haiti

How can global governance contribute to a human rights approach to human trafficking? As the number of international organizations (IOs) has expanded in the post-World War II period, so, too, has their role in global governance. The World Health Organization plays a key role in arresting the spread of infectious disease around the globe. The International Monetary Fund rescues states with loans when they are in danger of economic collapse, and the United Nations (UN) deploys troops to conflict zones to maintain international peace and security. Yet, for all of their positive contributions, we lack an understanding of all the potential shades of IO influence, particularly on human rights conditions in the states they assist. Scholars have long known that IOs can be pathological and dysfunctional and produce unintended outcomes (Barnett and Finnemore 1999). However, the darker side of IO influence has been given little scholarly attention.